


Treading water

by Kitexa



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-10 21:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitexa/pseuds/Kitexa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sean Cassidy isn't stupid. He knows what he wants and intends to make it so. But sometimes, he needs a little encouragement to keep him afloat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Treading water

**Author's Note:**

> Part one of a self-assigned drabble challenge. No specific theme, just rolling with it.

He knew he was over his head.  Like, oceans over it. Knew he stood no chance whatsoever at _all_. Contrary to popular belief, Sean Cassidy was not stupid. Lackadaisical? Yes. Inattentive? You bet. Occasionally lost to the blissful whimsy of recreational intoxication? Hell yes.

In every state, however, lay a determination he could not (nor did he want to) shake that cemented the affirmation against accusation. He knew the odds front to back and simply did not care.

Moira MacTaggert was a stunning individual and he was determined to turn her head. Somehow. Some way. That quick-witted, grounded and impressively tactical woman would fall head over heels in love with his Irish arse.

“In your dreams, man.” Alex chided once. Sean snorted.

“Hey, in a couple of weeks, I’ll be nineteen. Irresistible.” He’d nodded to the blond, also nineteen, to which Alex shook his head.

“Alright… don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He wouldn’t.

Because again, idiocy lurked not in ambition but oversight. Sean knew exactly what lay ahead.

The only problem (beside the ten plus years between them) lay in ‘Professor X.’ The only one here to out flirt the dashing Cassidy, he was almost never without Moira at his side. And when he was—well, Sean didn’t particularly care, the point was his girl (yes his, she would be one day) did not spend a great deal of time on her own. 

If Alex’s reaction was anything to go by, Sean wasn’t eager to reveal his affection to the group. A member of the group. Anyone who wasn’t Moira. Again, a problem.

Which meant he stayed silent. And frustrated. But that was really beside the point.

Sagging, Sean slouched in his loveseat, eyes drifting from whatever cartoon played on the television. Were anyone around—and they weren’t, he’d checked—they’d call it an oddity. A Saturday morning without a dose of animated shenanigans? Blasphemy!

“Yeah, yeah..” mumbled the redhead aloud. Tom and Jerry couldn’t fix everything.

“Hey, are you okay?”

The Irish teen blinked, flustering slightly at the curtain of blond hair threatening to tickle his nose. “Whoa, Raven, a little warning?”     

“Sorry.” She smiled, crossing behind to drop into a plush sofa.  “You looked comfy, thought I’d join you”

“Yeah, I gathered that.”

She frowned, straightening slightly. “ _Are_ you okay?”

“Yep.” _Nope_. She must have read his mind – or possessed spectacular insight—because the shapeshifter crossed her legs, leaning forward.

“Come on, what’s wrong?”

“Why do you care?” He snipped, harsher than intended. Sean made a point to keep a frequent smile. _Dammit, Moira._

“Because you’re my friend…?” and she spoke as though it were the most obvious answer in the world. His own scowl deepened.

“Not really…” They _were_ , but never really hang out. He followed Alex around like a terrier while Raven tended to seek out Hank or one of the older folks for company. She must have sensed it , too; something between guilt and offense tightened her lips. Eyes narrowed, studying him close. A flash of blue, and she shifted into Moira.

Sean flushed scarlet. “That’s – that’s not funny!” he sputtered. The Moira-Raven grinned.

“I knew it.”

He nearly choked “Knew- knew what?”

Pretty brown eyes grew smug. “You totally have a thing for Moira.”

“I do not—” _Give it up, Cassidy._ He sighed, forcing himself not to look away. Sean wasn’t a shy individual but she looked like Moira and sounded like Moira. Were it not for her mannerisms—too young for her finesse—he’d nearly believe she was. In another setting, anyway. “…yeah? What of it?”

The Moira-clone continued observing him a moment, before rippling back to blond and blue-eyes.  “I think you should stop listening to Alex—”

“How do you what Alex has--”

“Hank tells me—”

“HOW does Hank know—”

Raven bristled, bright blue and…not threatening but with a startling emphasis. Sean bit his tongue, resigned.

“Moving on.” Scales settled down, hands tucked neatly in her lap. “I think you should stop listening to what Alex says and take a chance.”

He stared at her _. Seriously?_ “And you don’t… find this at all.. _weird_.” Statement, not a question. As previously noted, Sean Cassidy was not stupid.

Raven smiled. “As long as you don’t.”

The redhead could only guess what she meant. He had a few ideas, of course—there was the direct application to his dilemma, or a possible reference regarding her interest in the older members of their ‘group.’

Either way.

“Not…really. I mean, she’s pretty hot as far as older chicks go. And I’m almost nineteen.”

Smile broadened, as though enthused over this declaration. “Then go for it. She could do with better company, anyway.”

An eyebrow rose, and though he meant to inquire further, Raven promptly stood, dress swishing around her knees as she made her way to the door.

“Happiness comes when we least expect it, Sean.” She added, pausing to glance from the door. Still wearing a curious look, he bobbed his head.

“I’ll.. uh, keep that in mind.”

And with that, the shapeshifting girl left him, sifting through thought and advice on his own. _She really is a kind of ‘mystique,’_ he mused with a small grin of his own.  And the first to offer a glimmer of possibility beyond his own ambition.  “Yeah… yeah I can totally do this.” And with the phrase grew a bolder resolve.

Moira MacTaggert would hear his banshee cry. And damn everything if she would not listen.

**Author's Note:**

> I do apologize if the ending is a little corny. That was intentional. My trying to keep the narrative sounding like Sean.


End file.
